Kenyans look to the use of drones to prevent white rhino poaching

To make up for the lack of manpower to protect the Northern White Rhinos of Africa, the Ol Pageta Conservancy is looking to use surveillance drones.

Back in late-December 2012, Forbes reported that there are four Northern White Rhinos at Kenya's Ol Pegeta Conservancy. Those four make up a little over half of the seven Northern White Rhinos that exist in the world today. To say that the Northern White Rhino is endangered is an understatement. One would think that there would be a lot of protection for these Northern White Rhinos and other endangered species in this wildlife reserve; but, that's far from the case.

It is explained that the size of this wildlife reserve is 90,000 acres. This is translated into the size of Manhattan times six. There are 120 rangers patrolling the whole area. Imagine only 120 cops patrolling the Manhattan area of NYC; then, imagine only 120 cops patrolling an area that's six times the size.

That means that are lot of crimes can happen while the cops are out on patrol. In the case of the wildlife reserve, a lot of poaching can take place while the rangers are out on patrol. That's understanding when you consider the amount of ground that has to be covered. The belief of rhino horns having the powers of heal, which is unfounded, drives the hunt for these endangered species.

To make up for the lack of manpower when patrolling the reserve, there is technology to compensate. No new technology is needed to be created as the needed technology already exists today in this world.

Making up for the lack of manpower to cover this amount of space, remote-piloted surveillance drones will be used. This is similar to drones used by the military to take on terrorists, insurgents, and so forth. These drones will monitor the locations of the rhinos. The Telegraph article says that one of these drones will be able to cover up to 10,000 acres. A couple of drones will be needed for the 90,000 acre wildlife reserve.

This is an example on how modern cutting-edge technology can be used across the world and for many different things. By using drones, a high-trained group of responders can quickly be dispatched to the area if there's a threat.

Furthermore, perhaps wildlife reserves can buy these new types of drones in the future. The Japanese company called SECOM Security has unveiled a prototype security drone which is a camera mounted on a helicopter. If the device is successful, then SECOM Security has wishes to market the device to countries across the world.